Kara, a Wisconsin 11-year-old, died recently after entering a coma brought on by diabetic ketoacidosis. For over a month she displayed symptoms of type 1 diabetes. According to news reports, her parents decided to pray for her recovery rather than get her the medical care she desperately needed. The reports continue: As she wasted away over the past month, relatives from out of state begged her parents to seek help for their daughter's condition. Her parents reported Kara's condition to the extended family, demonstrating that they were aware that their daughter's condition was becoming dire. According to the story, the parents did not belong to any specific religious organization, though they now claim "religious freedom" as a defense for their actions.

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Now that my little daughter is here, I simply cannot imagine neglecting to do anything in my power to keep her safe and healthy. The primary job of parents is to nurture and protect their children. When a child is sick they need proactive and efficient care. Millions of parents have faced the difficulty of delivering insulin injections to their small children, but they would all gladly deal with a few needle ****** and tears in order for their child to live.

According to these reports, Kara's parents concluded that prayer, rather than medical intervention, would heal their daughter. The fundamental problem with their approach was that they misunderstood God's answer to their prayers.

I'm a Christian and I believe wholeheartedly that God has had a hand in my diabetes care. Nearly 90 years ago, when insulin was discovered to be the missing component in diabetic bodies, a miracle began. The development of new technologies such as home glucose monitoring, insulin pumps, and now continuous glucose monitoring devices have been little miracles for millions of diabetics.

I believe the relationship between God and his people is based on the concept of free will. Human beings are free to worship God or not. We're free to make our own decisions on earth and thus we deal with the consequences of those choices. God doesn't always answer prayers in big, dramatic ways. Sometimes he uses circumstances on earth to meet our needs and wants. We need to open our eyes and see how God may be answering our prayers in small, subtle ways.

Kara Neumann had a very treatable disease. She had type 1 diabetes at a very hopeful time. She could have lived a full and happy life with the use of insulin and other diabetic technologies. Sadly, she didn't get the chance to take advantage of all the miracles that have made diabetes a non-lethal condition.